Bit part

A bit part is a role in which there is direct interaction with the principal actors and no more than five lines of dialogue (often referred to as a "five or less" in the United States). In British television, bit parts are referred to as under sixes. A bit part is higher than that of an extra and lower than that of a supporting actor. An actor who regularly performs in bit roles, either as a hobby or to earn a living, is referred to as a bit player, a term also used to describe an aspiring actor who has not yet broken into major supporting or leading roles.

Unlike extras, who do not typically interact with principals, actors in bit parts are sometimes listed in the credits. An exception to this practice is the cameo appearance, wherein a well-known actor or other celebrity appears in a bit part; it is common for such appearances to be uncredited. Another exception occurred in MGM's 1951 screen version of the musical Show Boat, in which the role of the cook Queenie (Frances E. Williams) was reduced from a significant supporting role in the stage version to a bit part in the film. Williams, whose appearance was not intended as a cameo, was not listed at all in the credits. On the other hand, William Warfield, whose role as Joe, Queenie's husband, was also drastically shortened in the film from the stage original, did receive screen credit because he sang Ol' Man River.

Bit (disambiguation)

A bit is a unit of information storage on a computer.

Bit or BIT may also refer to:

Tools and engineering

Arts and entertainment

Organisations

Education

Crook (music)

A crook, also sometimes called a shank, is an exchangeable segment of tubing in a natural horn (or other brass instrument, such as a natural trumpet) which is used to change the length of the pipe, altering the fundamental pitch and harmonic series which the instrument can sound, and thus the key in which it plays.

Master crook and coupler system

Early horns had unalterable lengths and permanently attached mouthpieces. This presented problems in concert situations. A different horn was required for different keys, and the instrument could not be tuned. Around 1700 the Leichnamschneider brothers in Vienna developed a horn with a removable mouthpiece which could be connected to a short piece of tubing, called a master crook. Additional pieces, couplers, of different length were inserted between the master crook and the body of the horn to change the horn's length, and thus the pitch. Fine tuning was done with even shorter segments called tuning bits. This simple and relatively inexpensive solution remained in use even into the 19th century. Charles Tully's Tutor for the French Horn, published in London, recommended this system for beginners as late as 1840.

Bit (horse)

A bit is a type of horse tack used in equestrian activities, usually made of metal or a synthetic material, and is placed in the mouth of a horse or other equid and assists a rider in communicating with the animal. It rests on the bars of the mouth in an interdental region where there are no teeth. It is held on a horse's head by means of a bridle and has reins attached for use by a rider.

Basic types

Although there are hundreds of design variations, the basic families of bits are defined by the way in which they use or do not use leverage. They include:

Role

A role (also rôle or social role) is a set of connected behaviours, rights, obligations, beliefs, and norms as conceptualized by people in a social situation. It is an expected or free or continuously changing behaviour and may have a given individual social status or social position. It is vital to both functionalist and interactionist understandings of society. Social role posits the following about social behaviour:

Character (arts)

A character (or fictional character) is a person in a narrative work of art (such as a novel, play, television series or film). Derived from the ancient Greek word χαρακτήρ, the English word dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of "a part played by an actor" developed. Character, particularly when enacted by an actor in the theatre or cinema, involves "the illusion of being a human person." In literature, characters guide readers through their stories, helping them to understand plots and ponder themes. Since the end of the 18th century, the phrase "in character" has been used to describe an effective impersonation by an actor. Since the 19th century, the art of creating characters, as practiced by actors or writers, has been called characterisation.

A character who stands as a representative of a particular class or group of people is known as a type. Types include both stock characters and those that are more fully individualised. The characters in Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler (1891) and August Strindberg's Miss Julie (1888), for example, are representative of specific positions in the social relations of class and gender, such that the conflicts between the characters reveal ideological conflicts.